Fixation of adolescent diaphyseal tibial fractures with flexible intramedullary nailing

Abstract

to evaluate the results of fixation of diaphysealtibial fractures with flexible intramedullary nail in adolescent.Methods: 20 patients complaining of diaphyseal fracture tibia were managed by flexible intramedullary nail in our department between Jule 2015 to April 2016 .Mean age of patients is 14 years old ranging between (10 – 17) years old .They are fourteen males and six females. Twelve cases were simple fractures and eight cases were compound fractures.Results : All patients of our study were followed up in our outpatient clinic with mean time of follow up was 36 weeks .All fractures achieved full union at a mean of 12.7 weeks with range from 10 to 18 weeks .Only one case suffered from nonunion and it was followed up. One patient had postoperative fracture angulation that was less than 5 degrees in the coronal and sagittal planes and postoperative valgus angulation of about 5 degrees. Conclusion:The use of elastic intramedullary nails in treatment of diaphyseal tibial whether simple fractures or open fractures (Gustillo and Anderson Type 1 and Type 2) in adolescents provide satisfactory results for the patient and his family and for surgeon.